Caledonian Canal

The Caledonian Canal stretches 60 miles across the Scottish Highlands, linking Inverness on the east coast with Corpach near Fort William on the west. Designed by engineer Thomas Telford in the early 19th century, it follows the Great Glen fault line, using natural lochs like Loch Ness and Loch Oich for much of its route. Only one third of the canal is man-made, while the rest relies on these deep freshwater lakes. The waterway includes 29 locks, four aqueducts and 10 bridges, including the impressive Neptune’s Staircase at Banavie with its eight consecutive locks. Built to avoid the dangerous Pentland Firth, the canal provided a safer route for ships moving between coasts. The canal’s northern section begins at Clachnaharry Sea Lock, where a swing bridge carries the Far North railway line over the water. Nearby stands a lock-keeper’s house built in 1810, now partly used as offices, with a smiddy containing two old forging hearths still visible. Muirtown Basin offers moorings before the canal turns under a road swing bridge leading to four Muirtown Locks. Dochgarroch Lock protects the canal from flooding from the River Ness, overlooked by a 19th-century lock-keeper’s cottage. At Bona, Telford’s octagonal lighthouse once served as both home and beacon, now a rare inland light. The middle section passes through Fort Augustus, where the A82 crosses on a swing bridge above five locks rising beside the village. Remains of an abandoned railway bridge, built between 1903 and 1906, stand near the canal, along with piers over the River Oich. Loch Oich, the canal’s highest point at 32 metres above sea level, supplies most of the 187 million litres of water needed daily to keep the system running. Nearby cottages like Glenjade and Ivy once housed lock keepers during construction. The southern section continues from Loch Lochy, where a small lighthouse marks the entrance and the Mucomir Cut channels water to a hydroelectric station.